Ferry Farm

Ferry Farm was the childhood home of George Washington, located along the Rappahannock River in Stafford County, Virginia (across the river from Fredericksburg). It was built in 1738 by Augustine Washington, who acquired the land from the Strother estate. Augustine's son George lived in the house until his early twenties, when he left the farm (which he saw as "trouble-filled" and with "limited options") to become a surveyor. In 1772, Washington's mother left the farm and sold it to Hugh Mercer, and the farm was under ruinous condition by 1833. In 1850, a new farmhouse was built for use by an overseer, and it was periodically occupied by Union soldiers as a campground during the American Civil War. In 2000, Ferry Farm became a National Historic Landmark, and a replica of the original home was completed in 2018.